Saturday, February 12, 2011

Winter, Continued

Spring has not sprung -- yet.

The view from our side porch, about 7 AM Thursday

This photo of our snowy landscape is for the folks who live far away and wonder what's happening in Christian County. If you live here, you should ignore this post! You already know that it snowed again and again this week. (Yes, two significant snows.)

The schools were in session for most of Monday, and that was the only day of school for the week. The school buses had a little trouble on the slick roads, Monday afternoon,. According to the Kentucky New Era, a bus went off Highway 800, somewhere near Crofton. A Christian County Schools spokesperson reported about a half-dozen other minor accidents. No one was hurt.

I've been pondering why our buses have trouble in ice and snow when, in some states, the school buses travel in ice and snow without incident, day after day. Part of the problem surely is that our drivers aren't experienced with such conditions. But some of the problem, I think, is the roads our buses travel. Even in good weather, narrow, winding, hilly backroads are challenging for a big vehicle. Taking a bus on those roads when they are slick with ice and snow is just asking for trouble.

In central Kansas where my brother lives, many of the rural roads are straight as an arrow. From the air, they must look like lines on a piece of graph paper. In Christian County, our backroads are like the C. W. McCall song, "Wolf Creek Pass".

Well, from there on down, it just wasn't real purdy:
It was hairpin county and switchback city.
One of 'em looked like a can full'a worms;
Another one looked like malaria germs...

I'm exaggerating, but only to make my point.

I am so ready for spring. Next week, we are supposed to have much warmer temperatures -- in the low 60s on a couple of days. If we have a few days like that, the daffodils will start blooming.

I am waiting to see how my 4" of bulb greenery plus buds all look once the snow is off them. We are seeing rapid thawing (yesterday and today) but a lot of my yard is shaded and still has several inches of snow cover.

No need to thank us here in Arkansas for sending that storm onward. It sure made a mess here but at least we were warned.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)